


Inside-Man

by JCJx83



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Because we need another one!, F/F, HS AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-08 02:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4286403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCJx83/pseuds/JCJx83
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmilla has had a crush on Laura for a long time and has finally decided to ask her out. But, what happens when someone else has beaten her to it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She wasn’t going to do it; she outright _refused_ to give in.

It took all of Carmilla’s will power to keep from groaning as she gave in and looked up at the clock mounted on the wall at the front of the classroom.

_2:10PM._

She silently willed the red digital numbers to go faster. She needed out of her class and she needed out _now._

_Dammit, can this day possibly go by any slower?_

She closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath in through her nose, before blowing it back out slowly.

_Control yourself Karnstein; you just have to make it another twenty-five minutes. That’s it. You can do it._

Unfortunately for Carmilla, her mental pep-talk did very little to alleviate her nerv…stress.

Yes, it was _stress_.

Carmilla Karnstein didn’t get nervous. Stressed out, sure, but she was sixteen years old so it kind of came with the territory.

Her eyes wandered back up to the clock.

_2:17PM._

She didn’t even try to hold back the defeated sigh that bubbled its way out of her body.

“Carmilla, is everything alright?” The teacher asked from where he was sat upon his desk.

“No sir,” Carmilla said, not even trying to cover the ‘ _I-really-don’t-want-to-be-here-right-now_ ,’ that she knew was apparent in her voice. “Everything is _peachy_.”

The man regarded her for a brief moment before nodding and continuing on with what he had been saying.

Carmilla tuned his voice back out with practiced ease, she knew that she wouldn’t miss anything important towards the class. They had already finished the educational, if you could even call what they did in this class _educational_ , part of the day and had since moved into the part where the teacher told stories about his ‘ _glory days_ ’ on the police force.

To say that Carmilla loathed the class would be an understatement, but she had had a free period and the school insisted that she had to take something and it was either this or Advanced Physics. Science _really_ wasn’t her thing so she had opted out of the other option rather quickly. Plus her friend had told her that this class was an easy A, what her friend forgot to mention however was how completely and utterly _boring_ the class was.

Luckily for Carmilla the class was almost over, and with it the school day and she knew _exactly_ what it was that she was going to do the moment that the bell rang. An uncharacteristic smile pulled at the corner of her lips at the thought.

Today was the day that Carmilla was going to do something that had been on her mind for a while. She was going to ask Laura Hollis out on a _date_.

It had been just over a year since Carmilla had met the girl but she could still remember it like it was yesterday.

* * *

 

Carmilla checked the time on her phone.

_12:58PM_

_Well, so much for making it to math on time._ She rolled her eyes, once again questioning how a school could be designed so poorly. It was virtually impossible to go from one class to the other without hitting at least one of the schools seemingly endless supply of choke points. Luckily for her it seemed that pretty much everybody else in the school had already made it to class, leaving her alone in the hallway.

She ran her fingertips along the whitewashed cinderblock wall; the surface was smooth, any and all rough edges having been rubbed away by countless students doing exactly what Carmilla was currently doing. She absently wondered just how many others had touched the wall she was currently touching as she rounded the corner.

“Watch out!”

Carmilla grunted as a blur of honey-blonde hair collided into her side, sending her and the other girl spiraling to the floor.

“ _What the hell_!” Carmilla spat as she propped herself up onto her elbows, the books in her backpack digging uncomfortably into her back. “Can you not watch where you’re going?”

“ _Oh my god_ , are you hurt? I’m sorry that I hit you so hard that you’re hurt, not that I _meant_ to hit you, it’s just that I’m almost late for class and it’s my first day and I have _no_ idea where I’m going _and_ …”

Carmilla stared as the girl continued to ramble; if the situation had been any different she _might_ have even been impressed at the girl’s apparently infinite lung capacity.

 “Alright, slow down there, cupcake.” She held a hand up and the girl immediately silenced herself much to Carmilla’s delight. “Thanks, your rambling was starting to give me a headache.”

The girl blushed, averting her eyes.

“Yeah…I kinda do that a _lot_.”

“Ramble or run into strangers on your way to class?” Carmilla smirked as the barb hit its intended mark. The girl’s face bunched up in a way that was _almost_ cute.

“I said I was sorry!”

“ _Relax,_ ” Carmilla said as she stood up. “I was only joking.”

“Well it wasn’t very funny.”

Carmilla shrugged, “It was for me.”

The girl made that face again and Carmilla didn’t even try to keep the smirk off of her face.

“It’s still _ru_ …” The girl was cut off as the shrill sound of the bell sounded from an intercom that was directly above them. The girl deflated instantaneously, a sad pout overtaking her face. “Well that’s just great…”

Carmilla observed the girl from where she stood over her, head tilting to one side. _Huh, she kinda resembles a sad teddy bear._

Normally in a situation like this Carmilla would just turn and stalk off on her oh so merry way. However, there was just something about this girl that was keeping her glued to where she stood.

She allowed her eyes to roam over the girl, taking her in for the first time.

The girl’s honey-blonde hair cascaded down in waves, just barely brushing her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep and warm chocolatey-brown, that were they not currently pouting, Carmilla could easily see herself getting lost in. The rest of the girl’s face was made up of a button nose, full lips – that were _also_ pouting – and a bone structure that even Carmilla had to admit was to die for.

She was also completely and utterly _cute_.

It was a combination of all of those factors that had Carmilla extending her hand out in a very uncharacteristic way.

“Come on, I’ll help you find your class.” Carmilla had to stifle a laugh as she watched the other girl’s face go from pouting to hopeful within half a second.

“Oh, thank you so much!” The girl said, smiling as she reached up to take Carmilla’s offered hand.

Carmilla easily helped the shorter girl up as she did everything in her power to ignore the effect that the girl’s smile had on her heart rate.

“Alright,” she said, thankful that her voice came out calm and even. “Where is your class, _cutie_?”

Carmilla bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smirking as the girl flushed, her cheeks turning a light shade of red.

“It’s…uh,” The girl stumbled over her words, the pitch of her voice matching that of a mouse. “It’s in room 307!” She rushed the words out, before once again shifting her eyes down and away from Carmilla.

An action that didn’t go unnoticed by the sophomore, “Well, cupcake, you’re in luck that’s my class as well. Come on.”

Carmilla turned away, her ears barely picking up on the mumbled: “My name is _Laura_ …”

She turned back to her companion, “What was that?”

“Nothing!” The girl squeaked, her face once again taking on a red hue.

Carmilla laughed as she returned her attention back to her front. “Whatever you say, _cutie_.”

* * *

 

Carmilla felt a smile cut across her face at the memory. After that day the two of them had quickly become friends, another uncharacteristic thing for Carmilla. Normally it took a while for her to warm up to anybody, but not Laura.

It was a strange friendship, one that if you looked at it on paper should never actually work. Laura was literal _sunshine_ in human form, the absolute polar opposite of Carmilla. Who was broody and _very_ much preferred to keep to herself. It worked though and Carmilla thanked her lucky stars every night that it did.

It had taken around four months for Carmilla to become infatuated with the younger girl, and another two months before she would allow herself to believe it. Looking back on it now however she realizes just how inevitable it really was. Everybody liked Laura, it was impossible to not _like_ her. As a matter of fact in the time that she had known Laura she had never once heard a single person speak bad of the young woman, which was something else that she was secretly thankful for, mainly because she wasn’t sure that she could restrain herself from hitting just whoever it was that had said something bad about the other girl.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day.

Carmilla was up and had her backpack slung across her back in the blink of an eye, her legs carrying her in a speed walk towards the door. Once out of the classroom and in the hallway she did her best to dodge and weave through the mass of students who were all trying to reach one of the many exits in the vocational building.

More than once Carmilla had to resist the urge to throttle one of the students that was walking so slowly that a turtle could easily pass them. Seeing a break in the line to her right she quickly ducked into it and followed the quicker stream to the door and out of the building. Now out in the open she picked up speed, making a beeline for her older brother’s parking spot at the back of the building.

She was almost running as she cut the corner and only just managed to sidestep around another student who was heading in the opposite direction.

“Fuck, watch where you’re going!”

Carmilla didn’t even give the words a second thought; her mind was set on one thing: getting to Laura as quickly as possible.

As soon as she could see her brother’s car in the distance she broke out into a sprint, reaching it in record time.

“ _Jeeze_ , what’s gotten into you, Kitty?” Her brother, Will, asked as she rounded on the back of the car.

“No time,” she said, dumping her backpack into the trunk before she took off running towards where the busses picked up students at the end of the day. She called back over her shoulder; “I’ll be right back!”

She didn’t know if Will had heard her, but she also knew that he wouldn’t leave without her, so she kept on running.

Laura’s buss was among one of the first to arrive at the school at the end of the day, which meant that it was also one of the first to leave. This provided her with a very short window of time in which to get to the girl and ask her out. Carmilla was determined though, and if there was one thing she was good at it was achieving whatever goal she set for herself.

Her current goal?

Find Laura Hollis.

Of course, finding a girl who was _just_ a hair over 5’2 amongst a sea of high school students wasn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world, but Carmilla had achieved harder things in the past.

Reaching the bus stop Carmilla quickly scanned the crowd, eyes and ears straining to pick up any sign or sound of Laura.

 _Shit, she’s not here._ A spark of panic shot through her, _What if her dad picked her up? …No, its Friday he works the afternoon shift. Think Karnstein if she’s not here then where could she be... Her locker!_

Carmilla barely refrained from smacking herself in the head as the answer came to her. For as long as she had known her Laura had always dumped all of her unnecessary books into her locker at the end of the week.

_“That way I don’t have as much to carry on Monday!”_

With her new destination decided upon she quickly turned and headed for the nearest door, reentering the school. She sighed as the cool air washed over her sweat coated skin; she never really had been a fan of running. She paused; taking a very brief moment to gauge her bearings before she started off on the route she decided would get her to Laura the quickest.

_Just gotta cut across the caf and down the ramps and boom, math pod!_

The irony of her asking Laura out in the pod that they first met in didn’t escape her for a second.

Carmilla had slowed her pace to that of a very brisk walk, all she needed at the moment was for some teacher to see her running and decide that she needed to be reminded of the ‘ _dangers of running in the hallway_ ’. Not that she particularly cared for the rule, but getting stopped would only slow her down and she really didn’t need that right now.

What she _needed_ was to get to Laura.

Coming to the end of the hallway Carmilla turned down onto the ramps that lead down and into the math pod. She took long and purposeful strides all the way down both of the ramps, until she finally came to a stop at the entrance of the pod.

This was it; just one more corner separated her from Laura. She could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest and she knew that it wasn’t just doing that from all of the running.

She quickly swiped at the sweat that was beading on her brow, her hands then moving on to try and fix her hair and make it look like she didn’t just run a miniature marathon. After that she took a second to straighten her shirt and pants.

Satisfied that her physical appearance was as good as it was going to be given the circumstances, she took a deep breath to help calm herself down.

 _Nothing to be stressed about Karnstein, your just going to talk to Laura…and ask her out, there is absolutely_ nothing _to be stressed about._

With her nerv… _stress_ under control, Carmilla fixed her lips into her trademarked smirk and turned the corner.

“Well, well, don’t you look like a virgin sacrifice.” Carmilla said as soon as she had cleared the corner, her eyes were darting around the math pod looking for anyone who could potentially interrupt what she was about to do. She let out a breath she hadn’t even known she was holding when she realized that there was no one in sight.

Well, there _was_ someone…

“Oh, hey Carm!”

Laura greeted with a smile that Carmilla was sure could rival the sun in its brilliance. She was somewhat able to ignore the army of butterflies that took flight in her stomach at the sight. Laura cocked her head to the side, appearing very much like a curious puppy.

The sight made her smile.

“What brings you down here?”

“Who says I have a reason,” Carmilla started as she leaned back against the locker that was right next to Laura’s. “Can’t a girl just come and say hi to her friend?

“Not when that girl is the: _Carmilla Karnstein_.” Laura said as she placed what appeared to be a very old and worn out English book into her locker.

“And what, my dear, is _that_ supposed to mean?”

“It means that in the time that I’ve known you I have never seen you do anything if there wasn’t a reason for it.” Laura said, placing yet another book away.

“Yes you have.”

Laura stared at her, a smug smile forming on her face.

“Name _one_.”

Carmilla fired a probe off into her mind, searching for an example that she could use to disprove Laura.

…

…

…

“ _Fine_ , you win.”

“Ha!” Laura fist pumped the air, giggling. “Score one for Hollis!”

 _God_ , Carmilla could spend all day listening to that giggle. It sounded a lot like how she imagined angels singing sounded like. It was heavenly.

Hell, _everything_ about Laura was heavenly.

Her voice, her hair, her eyes, her _body_ …

Carmilla shook her head, now wasn’t the time for her to admire Laura. Taking in another deep breath she steeled herself, her eyes focusing in on Laura’s own.

She had come here for a reason after all…

“Try and not look so _smug_ , cutie.” Carmilla snipped, “It really doesn’t look good on you.”

“But it’s fine on you, is that it?” Laura asked, her smile returning.

“Naturally, it’s part of my charm.” Carmilla replied, causing Laura to laugh. Good _God_ that _sound_ …

_No! Stay on task!_

“You are right though; there is a reason that I came to find you.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s up?”

Carmilla could feel her hands begin to sweat as the butterflies in her stomach returned with a renewed vigor. This was it, the moment she had dreamed about for months. How many times had this scenario played out in her head? Damned if she knew. Now that it was happening she almost couldn’t believe it.

“Carm?”

Laura’s voice pulled her back to the present, the girls voice was laced with what could only be called concern. Her brow was knitted together in way that meant she was in deep thought.

“Where did you go?”

“Sorry, cupcake.” Carmilla replied, “I just got distracted for a minute.”

“Oh, well, okay then.” Laura said, nodding.

Silence befell the friends for a moment. Neither moved, both seemingly content to just stare at the other.

Laura was the one to break the veil.

“ _So_ …”

The word snapped Carmilla out of her trance. _Shit, I still haven’t asked her._

“So,” Carmilla started, her eyes were on Laura’s face, watching for her reaction to what she was about to ask.

“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner at _The Lustig_ with me tonight.”

If Carmilla wasn’t so nervous, and yes she finally admitted that she was _nervous_ and not stressed, she would give herself a pat on the back for managing to keep her voice level as she spoke the words.

She watched Laura’s face with baited breath.

She had a front row seat as the emotions flashed across the girls beautiful features. First there was shock, followed by realization, and then there was what Carmilla knew to be elation.

_She’s excited, that’s a good sign, right?_

The thought had just barely cleared Carmilla’s mind before the emotion on Laura’s face changed for a fourth time.

Carmilla felt her blood run cold.

She knew that _look_.

She had only seen it once before, after Laura had bombed a test that she had been so _positive_ that she had aced. It was a look of disappointment mixed with a healthy dose of sadness.

“I’m sorry, Carm but, I _can’t_.” Laura’s voice is small and tinged with regret. “I already have plans with someone else tonight.”

Carmilla had known the words were coming. She had known it the moment she had seen the look of disappointment flash across Laura’s face, but she’d be damned if knowing that they were coming made it hurt any less.

Out of all the times she had imagined doing this, and she had imagined it a _lot_ , she had never seen it playing out like this. She had imagined every possible way that this could play out; Laura saying yes, Laura saying no, them being interrupted, every scenario, save _one_.

She had never thought about what would happen if someone had asked Laura out _before_ her.

It was a terribly inconvenient oversight.

Carmilla wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.

“I really am sorry, Carm.” Laura said her voice as small as she had ever heard it.

“Yeah, me _to_ …” Carmilla mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” Carmilla said, moving off of the lockers. “Have fun tonight.”

Carmilla didn’t wait to see if Laura had a response, instead choosing to turn her back on her and start the long walk back to her brother’s car.

“Carm, wait!”

She ignored Laura’s plea, she could already feel the tears building behind her eyes. She couldn’t face her, not now. Not while it felt like the weight of the world was crashing down upon her.

“ _Carmilla!_ ”

As soon as her feet touched the ramp she started running. She had to get out of there, get away from it. Get away from the _hurt_.

She made it out of the school before the first tear fell.

By the time she made it to her brother’s car her face was nothing more than a wet and sticky mess.

“Carmilla, what’s wrong?” Will asked his voice laced with concern.

“Nothing,” Carmilla ran her hand across her face, wiping away tears and smeared mascara. “Let’s just go.”

“Carm-”

“ _Please_ , Will?” She pleaded, actually _pleaded_. “I just want to go home.”

She watched as Will went to say something else but stopped, his eyes narrowing.

“Fine,” he said, tone serious. “But you will tell me what made you cry later, _deal_?”

Carmilla nodded, no longer trusting her voice to work properly.

“Alright, get in.”

With that the two siblings climbed into the car and put Silas High School in the rear-view.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we get started I'd just like to say to everyone who has: kudos, subscribed, and commented. You are awesome and thank you. The response for this has been amazing and even if you just read it and didn't do any of the aforementioned you are still awesome! So with no further ado, let's get started...

As soon as Will pulled into the driveway and had the car in park Carmilla is out of the car, not even bothering to grab her things from the trunk.

She makes a b-line for the door, pausing only to grab the spare key that is hidden under the welcome rug that has definitely seen better days.

The house was empty as she opened the door and made for her room. Their parents were high-ups in the company that basically allowed the town to exist so they were hardly ever home, which suited Carmilla just _fine_.

“Hey, Kitty!” Her brother’s words reached her ears just as the door to her room slammed shut, isolating her from the outside world. She knew that she would have to deal with him at some point, but at the moment she really couldn’t bring herself to care.

Who knows, maybe she’ll get lucky for once in her life and Will will forget about the promise that she had made to him.

She managed to throw herself face down onto her bed before the emotions she had bottled up on the car ride home came crashing down upon her like a hurricane. There was one however that stood head and shoulders above the rest, _anger._

She wasn’t angry at Laura, no. Hell, she wasn’t even angry at whoever it was that asked Laura out first. She was angry at herself for not having the courage to ask Laura out _sooner_. She had waited, always telling herself: _Tomorrow, I’ll do it tomorrow._ Now tomorrow had come to pass and someone else had gotten to Laura before she could.

The worst part was that she wasn’t even surprised. Who _wouldn’t_ want to date Laura? She was: funny, caring, cute, loyal, and a _little_ headstrong at times _but_ the cuteness easily outweighed that.

In another word, she was _perfect_.

And Carmilla had missed her chance to be with her.

“I bet it was _Lawrence_.”

The image of the ‘ _Jolly Ginger Giant_ ’ asking Laura out caused Carmilla’s stomach to churn. It made sense though, out of all of Laura’s friends Danny Lawrence was the only one who looked at her the way that Carmilla imagined that she herself looked at Laura.

“God, how could I have been so _stupid_.” She mumbled into her pillow, slapping it for effect.

“ _Why_ did I wait?”

“ _Why_ wasn’t I brave enough?”

Another slap.

Why, why, why?

_Why_?

For every question her pillow earned a slap. Until, finally, she ran out. She rolled over, facing the wall, as her arms wrapped themselves around her middle. Tears burned at corners of her eyes as the anger slipped away into sorrow.

An overwhelming... _something_ settled within her chest.

It was like emptiness but it was weighted. It felt a lot like she imagined being stuck at the bottom of the ocean would feel like, nothing but pressure. A pressure that seemed to be doing its absolute best to drown her, it felt as if someone had tied an anchor to her heart.

It was a strange sensation to say the least. One that Carmilla _definitely_ didn’t enjoy.

She continued to lie on her bed, eyes boring into the wall, as the weight in her chest continued to grow.

Slowly everything began to fade away.

Until all that remained was the weight.

* * *

 

There were several things that Carmilla prided herself on. One being her ability to pull off leather pants like she was born to wear them. Another was her ability to tune the world out and read regardless of what was going on around her. Most importantly though she really loved her ability to sleep through absolutely anything, it was _glorious._

That wasn’t to say that there weren’t things that could wake her up, because there were. Her alarm was rather good at breaking into her subconscious and drawing her back into the real world, much to Carmilla’s chagrin. Another thing that was great at waking her up was her brother, William.

“What,” Carmilla groaned as she glared up at the smug look on her brother’s face, “in the world, was _that_?” Her tone had quickly transitioned from one of sleepy confusion to an outright snarl.

“That should be rather obvious Kitty, even to your sleep addled brain.” Will said, moving back to sit in Carmilla’s desk chair. “I just gave you some _motivation_ to wake up.”

“ _You jerked me off of my bed_!”

Will cocked his head to the side, as if pondering her words. He shrugged.

“Potato, Pah-tato.”

“You’re _unbelievable_ ,” Carmilla said, pulling herself up from the floor to take a seat on the edge of her bed opposite her brother. “You know there are ways of waking me up that don’t involve you physically assaulting me, _right_?”

Will scoffed. “Yeah, but those aren’t nearly as fun.”

His entire body language shifted then, his teasing façade falling away to revel a stoic and serious mask. Will leaned back, the chair creaking against the pressure, as he folded his arms over his chest.

“Now, I seem to recall you promising me that you would tell me what had you in tears earlier.” Will said; his tone clearly indicating to Carmilla that short of him having a heart attack there was no way she was getting out of having this conversation.

_Well, so much for him forgetting._

To be fair, she’d known it was a _long_ shot.

Will was protective of two things in his life: his car and _her_. Although she was pretty he ranked his car above her, he always had been a bit of a motor head.

She sighed, her eyes turning to the hardwood of the floor.

“Where do you want me to start?” Her voice sounded smaller than she had intended it, but if Will picked up on it he didn’t let it show.

“How about right after you dumped your bag into my trunk. I swear I’ve never seen you that focused before, you were like a woman possessed.”

Carmilla fought off the smile that pulled at the corner of her lips. “I suppose I was.”

From there she began the painful process of telling Will everything that had happened: running to the bus stop, then to the math pod, and finally her conversation with Laura.

All the while she could feel the weight that had taken over her chest earlier, returning. Except this time, this time it was _worse_. It didn’t just stop in her chest, _oh no_ , this time it seemed intent to spread throughout her entire _body_. The further into the story she got the worse it became, until finally when she finished, it felt as if she couldn’t move at all. It was as if somebody had pumped her body full of concrete.

A sensation that Carmilla rather quickly decided that she did _not_ enjoy.

“So,” Carmilla said, her voice straining under the imaginary weight. “Now you know.”

“Now I know.” Came Will’s somewhat solemn reply, but there was something else in his voice. Something that Carmilla couldn’t quite _place_.

She looked up from the floor for the first time in the ten minutes it took her to recount exactly what had happened to Will.

Her brother had always had a very expressive face. So much so, that instead of saying that he wore his heart on his sleeve, she would tease him that he wore it on his face.

Like right _now_.

The muscles in his face were taught. His lips pressed into a tight, thin, line.

_He’s upset,_ she realized. _About what though?_

She was just about to ask what was bothering him when he stood, checking the time on his phone.

“Well, since your plans for the night got ruined I’m going to take you out.”

Dozens of different refusals jumped to the tip of Carmilla’s tongue, but Will cut her off before she could voice even one of them.

“It’s _non-negotiable_ Kitty,” he said, his tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. “So get up and change into something that makes you feel good and come and get me when you’re ready. I’ll be in the living room.”

With that Will turned and exited the room, leaving Carmilla to gape after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading chapter two of my little story here. I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the conclusion! (Remember it'll be posted next Monday.)
> 
> As always if you have any comments or criticisms please leave them below. Any criticism helps, as long as it's constructive. It's honestly impossible for me to put into words how much it means to hear from people who have read my work.
> 
> Anyways, have a good night and see you next week!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here it is. The conclusion, I hope you enjoy!

“ _The Lustig_?” Carmilla turned her face away from the bright neon lights to glare at her brother. “This is your _big plan_ for cheering me up?”

Will put the car in park and killed the engine, “Yeah, pretty much.”

“ _Take. Me. Home_.” Carmilla growled the words, her glare turning into an outright snarl. “ _Now_.”

“Sorry, not in the cards, kitty.” Will said as he turned his head to face her. “And cut it out with the ‘Eye-Lasers’, will ya?”

“Take me _home_ and I will.”

“ _Not_ going to happen, sorry.”

Carmilla stared at her brother for a moment longer before she turned away, her arms crossing over her chest. “I’m not getting out of this car.”

She knew that she was being childish but she _really_ couldn’t bring herself to care. Of all the places in the town that her dimwit of a brother could have taken her to, he had to bring her to the one place that she was going to bring _Laura_?

It was like some sort of twisted joke.

Will sighed, “Kitty, look at me.”

_Sorry, Will, that is_ so _not happening right now._

“Carmilla.” He tried again, “ _please_?”

Carmilla remained motionless. She wasn’t going to give in and turn around, not in a million years. She heard Will sigh again.

“Fine,” he said. “There are two ways this can work, either you go in under your own power or I can carry you.”

“You wouldn’t _dare_.”

He laughed.

“May I remind you that I literally grabbed you by your ankle earlier and pulled you off of your bed?” She could almost picture the smirk on his face. “Do you really think I’ll hesitate to haul your ass inside?”

He wouldn’t.

And Carmilla knew it.

“Five minutes.” She said, turning round to face him. “After that I’m leaving.”

Will smiled.

“That’s all it’ll take.”

* * *

 

When Carmilla had first started high school she couldn’t wait to go to _The Lustig –_ or _The Lustig: Student bar and grill_ as it was then known before the owner decided to shorten the name –for the first time, having heard all about how great it was from Will and his friends, now she couldn’t wait to get the heck out of there.

Carmilla blinked a couple of times as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting that bathed the establishment in a soft orange glow. When she opened her eyes again she was greeted with a sight that had become very familiar to her over the past two and a half years.

The bar that ran along the east wall was crowded with patrons who were making small talk and sipping on their non-alcoholic drinks. Across from that there was a large area set aside for tables that were used for dinning, many of which were claimed by couples or friends enjoying a good meal. At the very back there were two sets of doors, one led to the kitchen where the food was prepared while the other led up to the second level where there was another mini-bar and a dance floor.

Essentially _The Lustig_ was a restaurant, bar, and a dance club all rolled into one. That wasn’t its major selling point, however. What set it apart from almost everywhere else was the fact that it only allowed students from the local high schools in, sure it’s staff was primarily adults but, as far as the clientele went it was all students.

_“Outta school? Outta luck.”_ Carmilla had heard the bouncer say to a recently graduated boy one night.

With all of those factors at play The Lustig had quickly became the premier date spot around the town for anyone aged fourteen to eighteen. Which was why Carmilla had asked if Laura would have dinner with her here. It was also why she really, _really_ , didn’t want to be here right now. She had never been a betting woman, but if she had to, she would bet her last dollar that Laura and her date were somewhere in the building.

She checked her phone, “Four and a half minutes left Willy-Boy.”

She expected Will to have some form of, “ _Ah, Carmilla, come on_!” Rebuttal but, her brother never responded.

Prompting her to turn her attention to her left where the older Karnstein sibling stood, his eyes were focused on the dining section of the floor. He was stood on his tip-toes, craning his neck as high as it would go. Almost as if her were searching for someo…

“ _Ah-ha_ , there’s Kirsch, come on kitty!” He said, grabbing Carmilla by the hand and dragging her along behind him.

Carmilla stumbled over her own feet as her brother shot forward. She tried to pull away but Will just tightened his hold on her hand.

“Kirsch!” Will called out as they neared the table, getting the attention of the man who was sitting alone at the table. Kirsch looked up.

“Will, _there_ you are.” He said, moving to stand at the table’s side. “I was wondering when you guys were going to get here.”

“Yeah, sorry about being late.” Will said, letting go of Carmilla. “We would have been on time but _someone_ was being difficult.”

Carmilla was about to respond to her brother’s barb when he continued.

“So, uh…” He looked around, eyes darting about the room. “…Dude,” He stopped, shooting a quick glance at Carmilla before leaning closer to Kirsch so he could whisper into his ear. Whatever it was that he said Carmilla couldn’t make it out.

Kirsch’s face lit up, “ _Oh_ , um, bathroom! Yeah, bathroom.”

“Will, what’s…” Will interrupted Carmilla before she could finish her question, his hands guiding her down and into the chair that Kirsch had just occupied. He slid a menu in front of her. “Oh, no, we aren’t going to…”

“Oh, _yes_ , we _are_.” Will said, lowering his face so that he was eye level with Carmilla. “I brought you out to cheer you up, so the three of us are going to have dinner.”

“We had a deal!” Carmilla hissed.

Will smirked, “I lied.” He stood back, reaching back to grab Kirsch by the shoulder. “Kirsch and I are going to go grab us some drinks and then we’ll be back.”

With that the two seniors turned and headed over to the bar, leaving Carmilla to glare after them.

She sighed, her eyes turning down to the table. She should have known that her brother would pull something like this, and if she were being completely honest with herself she did know. The worst part of it all was that she couldn’t even really be mad at him; all he was doing was trying to cheer her up.

Unfortunately as cliché as it sounded, and Carmilla absolutely _hated_ cliché’s, there was only one person who could cheer her up at the moment. And she was out with someone else. The thought caused a lump form in her throat. She swallowed, trying desperately to force it down.

It didn’t work.

She brought her arm up to lie across the table, her thumb idly flicking the corner of the menu that Will had placed before her.

_Speaking of Will, where are those idiots?_ She stood up, her eyes glancing over to where the bar was. _Even as crowded as it is they should have been back by now…_

“Carmilla?”

She froze. She didn’t move, she didn’t breathe, she didn’t think. It was almost like her body had short-circuited at the sound of _that_ voice. The voice that she was so familiar with that it _hurt._ The voice that she was positive she would _never_ tire of hearing.

_Laura’s_ voice.

“Carm?”

Hearing Laura call out for her again was enough to snap the spell that she was previously under. She turned, taking a deep breath to make up for the ones that she had missed. It was all for nothing, however. As soon as her eyes landed on Laura, any and all air that had been in her lungs went rushing out.

The other girl’s beauty was _staggering_.

Laura was draped in a dress that absolutely flowed around her, almost as if the fabric was terrified to touch her fair skin. The dress left one of her shoulder’s completely bare, something that _didn’t_ go unnoticed by Carmilla. Lace lining ran along the edges of the sleeves, giving the dress a, high class feel. The lining continued down into the skirt, repeating in loops around Laura’s legs until it stopped just above her ankles.

She was radiant.

“… _So_ …?”

Carmilla blinked, her facilities sluggishly returning. _Say something you idiot._ She licked her lips.

“Hey…Laura.”

“ _Hey_.” Laura responded simply, a shy smile gracing her lips.

Carmilla’s brain was going a mile a minute. Her mind was filled to the brim with a symphony of thoughts so loud it was deafening.

_Crap, she’s here, what do I do?_

_Where’s her date?_

_She’s smiling at me, why?_

_Where’s Will, we need to go now!_

_Why me?_

_Why, why, why?_

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Laura’s voice brought Carmilla back to reality. “At least not, you know, after _earlier_ …”

“Yeah, Will, kinda drug me out…”

Laura hummed, “I’m glad he did.”

Carmilla swallowed, another lump having formed in her throat. She hated what she was about to do, but she had to.

She had to _know_.

Even if she really didn’t want to.

“So, _uh_ ,” She hated this, she really, _really_ did. “How’s the _date_ going?”

_God_ , she felt like someone had just ripped her heart out.

Laura’s head tilted to the side, her face betraying her confusion.

“What date?”

“The one that you’re on.”

“I’m not on a date,” Laura said as her brows knitted together, forming an almost perfect ‘v’ on her head. “What makes you think I’m on a date?”

Now Carmilla was confused. Had something happened since she had talked to Laura that had changed the girl’s plans?

“Earlier, you said that you had a date…”

Laura’s laugh cut her off.

“I never said I had a date, Carm.” Laura was giggling now, “I said I had _plans_. I’m here with a friend.”

_Who’s the friend?_

Carmilla shook the thought away; it didn’t matter, not at the moment. What did matter was the fact that: Laura _wasn’t_ on a date. No one had asked her out; well they _had_ , but just as _friends_.

She felt a hand lightly grip her forearm. She looked up, her eyes easily finding Laura’s own; a question was etched across their surface. One that Carmilla knew she had to answer.

“Yes, I _like_ you.”

Laura nodded, her face remaining completely neutral. “That’s why you ran then? You thought I was going out with someone else?”

“Yes.” Carmilla’s voice was low as she voiced the admission. She had never really been good at the whole ‘ _feelings_ ’ thing. Even talking to someone about her feelings that made her as comfortable as Laura did was a momentous task for the young woman. Which was why she just didn’t do it, she found that it was easier to keep people at arm’s length that way.

She watched Laura’s face, searching for any indication as to how the other girl had taken the recent confession. But it was almost impossible. Laura’s face was a mask of indifference that she was sure not even the most well versed safe cracker could crack.

“You’re an _idiot_.”

Carmilla wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it definitely wasn’t _that_. Laura’s lips twitched as she continued.

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask me out for, like, _five months_ , Carm. Why would I go out with anyone else,” Laura was smiling fully now, her grin easily reaching up to her eyes that were absolutely sparkling in the light. “When the person I really want to date is _you_?”

Carmilla felt like she was weightless. Laura wanted to date her. Laura had been waiting for Carmilla to ask her out. _Laura wanted to date her!_

“Pardon me ladies,” A voice spoke up behind Carmilla, she turned, coming face to face with one of _The Lustig’s_ wait-staff.

“Can I help you?” She asked, fighting the smile that threatened to break out across her face as she felt Laura step up beside her and take her hand with her own. She laced their fingers together. 

“I was told by those two gentlemen that you are ready to order.” The waiter pointed over to the bar.

Carmilla followed his finger, her eyes quickly landing on the two men that he had pointed out. She gasped as realization dawned upon her. She looked to Laura.

“Cupcake, who asked you to come with them tonight?”

Laura’s face bunched up in confusion, “Wilson, why?”

“Wilson _Kirsch_?”

Laura nodded, “Yeah, why?”

“Because,” Carmilla laughed as she directed Laura to look over at the bar. “I think we’ve been setup, cutie.”

Carmilla shook her head as she watched Kirsch and her brother both raise their glasses in a toast to the two girls, Will mouthing a, _don’t kill me_ , as he brought his glass to his lips. Carmilla wouldn’t kill him, punch him? Oh, _yeah_.

She squeezed Laura’s hand, drawing the other girl’s attention away from the boys and back to her. “Well, since I’m pretty sure both of our dudescorts have abandoned us for the evening. What do you say _you_ and _I_ have dinner?”

Laura beamed, “That sounds great!”

Carmilla had never felt so weightless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you all enjoyed the ending! As always if you have any criticisms or comments please leave them below! Have a good night!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you've enjoyed chapter one of my little story here. The chapter's will be posted weekly, so be sure you check back next Monday for chapter 2 and then the following week for the conclusion. 
> 
> As always if you have any comments or criticisms please leave them below. Any criticism helps, as long as it's constructive. It's honestly impossible for me to put into words how much it means to hear from people who have read my work.
> 
> Anyways, have a good night and see you next week!


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